Shatter
by Blueblur99
Summary: An ancient alien experiment lying dormant in the Earth is poised to destroy it and only a group of aliens and their half-human charge known as the Crystal Gems can stop it. Doctor Eggman learns of this power and in his attempt to obtain it splits the planet apart. Now the Crystal Gems and Sonic the Hedgehog must work together to stop it before the world completely shatters.
1. Chapter 1

The earth was in danger. Far above the planet, a massive fleet of ships amassed, geared to take over the world. Within the armada's mothership sat the leader of the impending invasion, Doctor Eggman. He laughed, certain that no one would be able to stop his evil machinations. However, little did he know, the only one capable of stopping him had just arrived. Hearing a crash, he turned around to see that none other than Sonic the Hedgehog had just infiltrated his defenses; he grimaced.

Eggman quickly pressed a button to get his robotic soldiers on deck and screamed, "Fire!"

This didn't faze the young hedgehog, who merely smirked and ran straight ahead. He dodged attacks from all sides without slowing down for a single second. Sonic blasted his way across the flight deck, knocking aside a hapless robotic minion. He leapt into the air and attacked multiple drones with his signature homing attack, when he was caught off-guard by the booming barrage of the heavy assault cannons lining the ship's exterior. Thanks to his speed, the azure speedster was able to narrowly avoid the likely fatal blast and set his sights upon the turrets.

He swiftly dealt with the threat and continued pushing forward. A group of Egg Fighters stood in front of him, poised to attack, however, in a burst of speed, Sonic ran straight through the crowd, blowing them all away. He sped closer and closer to the egg-shaped menace.

He felt a rush of energy as he continued to surge ahead. That rush he felt began to slow down as he realized there was nothing in his way. He stopped for a moment to assess what was going on. There was still a while until he got to the end of the ship, so he clearly couldn't have destroyed everything. He started running again and although he felt a tad nervous, he refused to admit it to himself. He just kept moving, keeping an eye out for any surprises.

 _Crash!_

"Ohohoho!" Laughter emanated from behind him.

Sonic turned around to see none other than Eggman himself inside a giant mech suit, yet he wasn't surprised by this in the slightest. The scientist wasted no time in attacking him, shooting a barrage of missiles in Sonic's direction. He avoided them as he headed straight to the mech and threw his arm up to shield himself from shrapnel. He jumped up to perform a homing attack on a lone Egg Fighter that showed itself.

"Why you little…" Eggman growled.

Sonic ran on the side of the wall, chased by both missiles and bullets as Eggman amped up his attack. Rather than attempt to continue the fight, the hedgehog rushed inside the ship, where Eggman wouldn't dare fight inside the mech. He could still hear missiles whooshing after him, none of which could catch up.

However, he quickly heard a more peculiar mechanical sound. He turned his head to see the hand of the mech reaching out to grab him. He laughed, certain he could outrun it.

"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed as it got hold of him.

He struggled against the metal as it dragged him back out. The hand brought him up to the glass and face-to-face with the evil doctor himself. Sonic looked Eggman right in the eye and smirked. In a flash of light, the seven Chaos Emeralds appeared around him.

"What?!" Eggman said, shocked.

The blue hedgehog's fur began turning yellow and his formerly green eyes became a fiery red. As Super Sonic, he easily destroyed the robot's arms and escaped. He flew straight through the mech, leaving a gaping hole in the center. Eggman immediately detached the Egg Mobile and flew inside. Sonic simply chased after him and after they had both left the ship, it exploded. This continued as he followed Eggman to a strange cylindrical station.

As Eggman entered, the Egg Mobile gave out and ejected him. He flew straight into the wall and fell onto the ground in pain. Sonic came in after him and started moving closer to him.

"S-Sonic! I-I'm sorry! R-Really! Look, go easy on me! I'll turn over a new leaf. I swear! Just give me a chance," He whined.

Sonic laughed, "Well, this is new. Showing remorse, Eggman? If you played nice, I wouldn't have to break all your toys."

While he was distracted, Eggman grabbed a device with a red button on it. He smiled as he pressed it.

"Gotcha!" He said.

Several floor panels began raising up around Sonic. The hedgehog seemed shocked for a second, even though he should have realized Eggman's treachery. He attempted to escape only to bash right into an invisible barrier.

"Haha, Sonic! Thought I wouldn't be prepared for this? In fact… I was counting on it!" Eggman said.

Eggman stood up, laughing, having faked his fall. He watched as his hapless foe was dragged to the center by pulses of energy. Sonic struggled to free himself to no avail. The contraption set about draining him of his chaos energy. His fur changed back to its natural blue as he was forced out of his super form.

"With the power of the Chaos Emeralds magnified by another powerful gem I acquired, my laser-weapon will be unstoppable! Ohoho! I've waited a long time for this!" Eggman gleefully said as the platform he stood upon rose up to a control panel.

He stood in front of the panel, quickly looking over everything to make sure it was in perfect order. The scientist grinned.

As he pushed a button he yelled, "Fire!"

At that moment the station fired a laser straight down to the planet. Eggman was completely ecstatic that finally something had gone right for him. The Eggman Empire would soon rise. However, all that came crashing down. The lights began flashing red and the warning siren came on. Eggman was suddenly confused. He had done all the proper procedures and made sure everything was in order. Perhaps…

"Warning: System Overload. Evacuation recommended," The computer system repeated again and again.

Perhaps the power of the emeralds had been magnified to extremes that Eggman could never have predicted. No matter the cause, the damage was already done. The laser had already fired. He quickly got to his Egg Mobile and fled, leaving Sonic to a clear inevitable death.

Sonic, completely exhausted, had collapsed to the ground. He was unsure how to get out of this one. He looked at the Chaos Emeralds. They were totally drained of their power and had turned grey as a result. At the moment he was too weak to walk and he was unable to do Chaos Control. Knowing time was short, his mind raced for solutions. He was too slow.

In one split second, the station started exploding. Sonic could feel pieces of metal and glass cutting at him as he was jettisoned into space. He rapidly fell out of consciousness and drifted back to earth. For one moment, right before his eyes closed, he thought he saw someone.

* * *

"And Steven… We love you…"

The earth rumbled and cracked from the massive earthquake. Steven's eyes shot open as he woke up. He had to jump out of the way as the very ground he laid upon split apart. A blackboard toppled on top of him and he pushed it into the grass. On it were the words, _Cluster emerges. Bye bye Earth._ It was a reminder of the imminent threat within the core of the planet itself. With the sudden earthquakes occurring it could only mean that the giant gem experiment was going to form soon and destroy the planet in the process.

"If you're done just lying there, maybe it's about time we stop the world from ending!" Peridot yelled as Steven ran over to her, "Where are the others?!"

"They're stuck on Mask Island! We have to drill without them," Steven replied.

He climbed up the ladder on the platform she was standing on. Peridot was incredibly frustrated, she groaned.

"Am I the only one who understands the meaning of teamwork?!" She said.

Steven finished climbing and rushed over to where she was. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye. In an instant she was calmer than she had been beforehand.

"Okay. Steven, are you ready to drill down into the planet, at depths never before reached by your species, to stop the Cluster before it forms and save your world?" She asked.

"I don't know!" He answered nervously.

Just as quickly as she'd turned serious, she started she became very nervous and told him, "Don't say that! Say: We're gonna do it together and it's gonna be great!"

"We're gonna do it together and it's gonna be great," He repeated.

"Liar!" Peridot replied.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking again and the duo struggled to keep their balance atop the platform. A sickening crack could be heard as yet another split in the ground formed. The platform wobbled for a moment before falling on its side. Steven and Peridot stood up and saw the ground in front of them crumble. They slowly backed up and watched helplessly as both platform and drill were swallowed.

"The drill!" They both cried.

The shaking slowed down and was less violent. It reminded Steven of an elevator and he felt sick to his stomach; kind of like the tea cup ride at Funland. He slowly started to approach the large fissure, but Peridot grabbed his arm.

"S-Steven!" She said.

"Don't worry, I just want to see something. I'll be careful," He said back

Steven continued his approach and once he got there, he looked down. He could see some sort of something, most likely the Cluster, that was very far away. It was getting further away, almost like the planet was moving away from it.

"P-Peridot! Come look!" Steven called.

Peridot came over and stared downwards. She sighed and collapsed to the ground.

"It's too late… The Cluster's starting to form. Any minute now it'll be complete and shatter the world…" She said sadly, "I… I'm sorry I couldn't stop it in time…"

Steven sat beside her and hugged her, "It's not your fault. I was the one who distracted us all about Malachite."

The two of them sat and waited for the destruction they expected which taking a very long time. The elevator-like feeling ended and everything fell still. They braced themselves for the worst, yet nothing happened. It was all very anti-climactic. Maybe Peridot was wrong about when the Cluster would hatch and they would have time to formulate a new plan.

The sky steadily darkened as the time continued to pass. Steven yawned as the moon rose into the sky. The nagging anxiety he felt gradually faded as he grew tired. He struggled to keep his eyes open as he tried staying awake. Peridot, on the other hand, had no need for sleep and was full of worry. While she still didn't fully understand how it worked, she wondered how he could sleep at a time like that and she honestly didn't want him to. She was scared of being alone right then so she nudged him.

"Yes, Peridot?" He asked, yawning.

"N-Nothing… I jus-" A loud explosive noise interrupted her.

"AH! I-It's happening!" She screamed, cowering.

"Wait! Peridot, it's coming from up there," Steven said, pointing to an unknown object in the sky.

Peridot let out a sigh of relief. It was nice that it wasn't the Cluster and it was instead a huge fireball hurtling straight towards them. Actually thinking about it, that wasn't so nice. Peridot and Steven both looked at each other before running out of the way. The object quickly smashed into the ground, leaving a giant crater.


	2. Chapter 2

Steven and Peridot slowly approached the crater, unsure of what they would find. Peridot peered over first and was shocked by what she saw. She saw a large bestial creature unlike anything she'd seen on earth. Its fur was a dark blue and grey and it had large clawed hands. Its breathing was staggered and it seemed to be unconscious. As Peridot cautiously watched the strange being, she didn't notice Steven moving until he was sliding halfway down the hill.

"Steven, wait, come back!" Peridot shouted to him before covering her mouth, hoping she hadn't disturbed the monster. "Steven, you clod, get away from it." She hissed at the fourteen-year old boy. "No. Don't you dare. Put that stick down, Steven. Agghhhh, you little-" Peridot scampered down the hill on all fours, before slipping and rolling into greyish beast's side.

Steven ran over to the green gem's side to make sure she was okay. Once he saw she was unharmed, he said, "See, Peridot, it wasn't gonna wake up if I poked it a little bit."

Peridot looked at it, with a slight grimace, "We don't even know _what_ it is, Steven."

Steven turned back to the unconscious brute, and poked it gently. It rolled over onto its side.

"Ughhh, five more minutes, Tails…"

The duo shot away from Sonic as he slowly came to back to consciousness. Sonic sat up, rubbing his head.

"What happened… wait, Eggman!" Sonic leapt to his feet striking an alarmed pose before noticing his surroundings, "Where am I?"

Steven was about to answer, but Peridot clasped her hand over his mouth. They were right behind Sonic and he hadn't seen them yet. She was determined to keep it that way. She slowly began back up with him, with mild protest. Sonic sniffed the air.

"Who's there?" He asked as he turned around.

Peridot immediately grabbed the squirming Steven and attempted to make off with him. The two squabbled amongst themselves, but Sonic couldn't understand what they were saying. He was greatly confused as to why they were acting like they'd seen a ghost or something.

He threw his hand out in front of him and called out, "Wait! What's wro-"

Sonic stared at his hand in shock. It looked completely monstrous. He wondered if the rest of him looked that way and groaned. This was just great; the first people he encountered were absolutely terrified of him. Trying to approach them likely wouldn't work. He would have to figure it out on his own. He turned around and started to run… only he wasn't that fast. Even better, he couldn't run either.

He took in a deep breath. He felt more irritated than he usually ever was. Sonic knew he needed to calm down before taking his next action. Well, first things first, he needed to get out of that crater. As he was still trying to get used to his sudden bulk, everything was disorientating. It took him a little longer than it normally would have, but he did climb out of it. He looked around. All he could see was a barn and the fields surrounding it. He was literally in the middle of nowhere. It seemed like he was going to have to talk with the strangers. If he could find them.

Peridot and Steven were currently out of sight, hidden in the barn. Peridot quickly glanced around the corner of the entrance. She frowned seeing that Sonic hadn't left. Steven peeked out as well. He frowned as well, but for another reason.

"Aw… He seems lost," Steven said.

"Can't he be lost someplace else?" She muttered.

"Come on, he probably needs help," He said.

"And he can get it from someone else…" Peridot replied.

"Peridot… we're the only ones here," Steven told her.

Before Peridot could do anything, Steven was running out from the barn. Steven went straight up to Sonic and tapped on his shoulder. Sonic jumped and immediately turned around. He relaxed seeing that it was only the boy from before. Steven smiled and waved.

"Hi! Are you okay? You look lost," Steven inquired.

"Yeah. Do you know where I am?" Sonic asked, relieved.

"Well, this is Earth," Steven saw the dull look on Sonic's face and got more specific, "Delmarva to be more exact!"

Delmarva. So, he crashed in the United Federation. This was a good starting point. It wouldn't take him that long to get to somewhere like Tails' workshop. Only about… wait a second. He couldn't run like this. It would take far longer than he'd like. Meanwhile, Steven was confused as to why he seemed happy for a moment and then upset.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Yes, I need to go somewhere, but I'm kinda stuck here at the moment," Sonic answered.

"How did you come to arrive to this planet? Where are you from?" Questioned Peridot from out of nowhere.

"Um, I'm from here?" Sonic answered, watching Peridot grow even more confused, he continued, "The Mobian Islands? South Island? West Side Island?"

"Eaahhhhhhh…" Peridot said.

Steven internally cringed. He was so used to everything being aliens nowadays that he hadn't considered the possibility of Sonic being a mobian. Of course, that still explained nothing about him falling from the sky. Barring that, however, everything now made plenty of sense to him, but not to his companion. Thinking about it, he wasn't sure if anyone had discussed the existence of more than just humans living on the planet with or around her.

Sonic was left clueless at Peridot's lack of knowledge. It was even more peculiar, because if the near lack of light wasn't playing tricks on him, she was green, a clear sign of being a mobian herself. He was only right about her being green as she was actually an alien.

"Steven, what is he talking about?" She asked the boy.

"Uh… Peridot. There's… more than just humans on earth," Steven told her.

"What?! But all the records ever spoke of was human life on this planet!" She said.

Sonic was really puzzled now. Why was she talking like she wasn't from the planet? What was she, an alien or something? Peridot was equally as confused. She couldn't believe that there was more life on earth. It had to be one of Steven's jokes. She was sure of it.

"Are you joking me?" Peridot asked.

Steven shook his head. He was being serious. Peridot took a moment to allow it all to set in. There was still something else she needed to know.

"Why did you fall from the sky?" She asked.

Sonic paused for a moment. How much of his story would they believe? Would the one named Steven accept that he was actually Sonic the Hedgehog? The only way to find out would be to tell them.

"I suppose I ought to tell you who I am first. I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog," He said before telling the events that happened earlier.

Steven gasped, completely enraptured by Sonic's story. Peridot was also intrigued, but skeptical. The technology of this "Dr. Eggman" sounded way too advanced for a human to create. After all, from what she'd seen, humans were very primitive. She was taking everything Sonic said with a grain of salt.

"At that point he fired his weapon at the planet. Some sort of laser I think," Sonic said, catching both Steven and Peridot's full attentions.

Could a powerful enough weapon have caused all this damage? Evidently, it wasn't the Cluster. They'd have been dead by now. But then again, maybe it was only a coincidence. It was at least something worth considering. They looked at each other, both knowing the other had come to the same conclusions. The two of them started formulating questions they wanted answers to.

Steven asked first, "So why do you look like that?"

"Honestly, I don't know. May-"

"How does the "Egg Man" have such technology?" Peridot interrupted, "And why would he attack his own planet?"

"Well, he's a genius with an IQ of 300… or so he says. He wants to conquer the world and start the Eggman Empire," He said, laughing a little.

Steven yawned. He was so tired, but he didn't want to sleep. This was too exciting. He just met one of his heroes. He couldn't fall asleep quite yet. He fought the urge to doze off. And even though Sonic tried not to show it either, he himself was also still exhausted. Seeing as gems didn't need sleep, she was the only one wide awake. There was a long awkward silence between the three of them.

"You two can just go sleep in the barn if you need to," Peridot told the two teens, "I'll wait for the others to return."

"Others?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah! Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl! They're really cool and help protect the earth just like you! I hope you guys can all meet!" Steven said enthusiastically.

"Really? What do they do?" Sonic asked again, expecting a mundane answer like them being police or firefighters.

"They fight monsters, find powerful artifacts, and one time we even fought off an alien invasion!" Steven said as Peridot rolled her eyes.

"Pfft, you hardly 'fought off an invasion', Steven. You simply triggered a catastrophic overload in our ship's fusion reactor and goaded Jasper into a foolish fusion with Lazuli."

Sonic didn't expect that exchange. Even if Steven was exaggerating the events, it was still shocking. Aliens. That was a new one. Regardless of the green one's extraterrestrial origins, Sonic felt as if these two were trustworthy. Besides, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to actually get anywhere so he accepted the offer to stay the night. As he went to the barn, he thought about what he would do tomorrow.

* * *

"Ugh… Why are we even here?" Amethyst complained as the Crystal Gems wandered the city they found themselves in.

"The nearest warp pad is somewhere in this vicinity," Garnet answered.

"Garnet, are you even sure it's still here? After all, look at what humans have done to the area," Pearl said, worried.

"Yes. I am absolutely certain," Garnet said.

The three gems ignored the occasional stare as they continued their search. After the destruction of the one on Mask Island, they had to travel to the next closest warp pad, which was there in Spagonia. They all three wanted to get back to Steven and Peridot as quickly as possible.

Pearl looked over at Garnet, who was holding the unconscious Lapis Lazuli in her arms. She wondered if the blue gem was going to be okay. Being stuck in a fusion with Jasper for so long must've taken a toll on her.

"Lapis will be fine. She just needs to rest a while," Garnet told her, not even looking over to Pearl.

Pearl smiled after Garnet's reassurance. However, she was still worried about the Cluster. The horrible earthquakes stopped and it hadn't emerged yet so surely Steven and Peridot stopped it. Still, without actual confirmation she was anxious. And although the other two gems didn't show it, she was certain they were too.

"Can we at least get something to eat? All the food here looks delicious," Amethyst asked.

"No! We don't have time to do anything so frivolous," Pearl replied, revolted at the mere concept.

"Pearl's right, Amethyst. We need to get back to the barn as soon as possible," Garnet said before Amethyst had a chance to object.

"Fine," She mumbled, seemingly listening to her.

While the other two weren't watching, she silently slipped away. Amethyst quickly found a vendor giving out free samples. She grabbed some and started chowing down. She smiled and glanced back over to where Garnet was standing, not that far away.

"Amethyst!" Pearl yelled from behind her.

Amethyst turned around and looked annoyed. She groaned and rolled her eyes. Pearl was stern and crossed her arms. She walked back to Garnet with Amethyst in tow.

"Why do you always have to be such a buzzkill?" The purple gem asked.

"We can't waste any time here!" Pearl said, exasperated, "Right, Garnet?"

They both looked to the other gem, expecting her to scold Amethyst, but she said nothing. She just started walking again when they reached her. All three of them were silent as they continued their trek through Spagonia. They found themselves back where they started.

"Garnet, you just lead us around in a giant circle," Pearl said.

"I know what I'm doing," She said.

Both Amethyst and Pearl felt like they were being dragged around for no reason. Certainly there was an easier way to get home.

"You know what, Amethyst, we have some time to spare to grab a bite to eat. There's something I need to check out. Pearl, watch Lapis for me please. I should be back in a few hours," Garnet said as she led them over to a small restaurant.

Pearl balked, "Hours?! Garnet, why would you-"

"I'm sorry Pearl, there's no time to explain. Everything could hinge upon what happens next," She said.

Amethyst and Pearl looked worried as Garnet began walking off. Clearly, something must have gone wrong. Garnet could handle it though. That was something they were sure about. They had to be.

Pearl ruminated as Amethyst ordered her food. What could have happened? Was the Cluster destroyed? But most importantly, was Steven okay? She wished Garnet could have explained more before she left. What was so urgent that she had to leave, hardly saying anything?

She sighed. Garnet had this and everything was going to be fine. After all, the earth was still here. Pearl couldn't let her worries get out of control. She just needed to take this time to try and relax and-

"Amethyst!" She yelled as food flew into her face.

"Huh?" Amethyst looked up, her mouth full of food, and started laughing.

Pearl wiped it off of her face. She briefly glared at Amethyst who only kept on laughing. Secretly, Pearl was a little glad for that. She hadn't even realized that much time had passed. Plus, being mad at Amethyst at least gave her something else to keep her mind on.

The waiter approached and handed them the bill. Knowing Amethyst wouldn't, Pearl paid it herself. The waiter then raised his eyebrow a little, expecting a tip. Amethyst, her mouth still full, roared at him. He took a step back, disgusted as Amethyst chuckled. Pearl sighed as she summoned a handful of money from her gem and handed it to the man. The man stared, astonished at how it was several hundred dollars. He threw off his apron and ran away, greatly confusing Pearl who hadn't understood how much she gave the waiter. Amethyst merely shrugged as they stood up to leave.


	3. Chapter 3

It was still dark out when Sonic woke up. He leaned forward, wiping hay out his fur. Steven had offered him his sleeping bag but Sonic couldn't have fit in it. He silently yawned as he glanced around the barn. He saw Steven still fast asleep on the other side of the room, but Peridot was nowhere to be seen.

Sonic's ears perked up as he heard something that almost sounded like… groaning? He looked back over to Steven, who was silently sleeping. Maybe, it was Peridot? He stood up and walked around, trying to find her. He slowly edged toward the entrance.

"What are you doing?" Peridot asked, from the second floor as she walked over to the edge.

"Are you okay? I thought I heard something," He responded.

"I'm fine," She paused for a second, listening for anything unusual, "I was merely watching Camp Pining Hearts."

As Peridot left to continue watching her show, Sonic listened again and sure enough it was just the TV. He was about to lay back down when he heard the peculiar noise again. It definitely wasn't her show. He searched the barn once more and found nothing out of place. He exited the building.

Sonic looked around as the noise steadily grew louder. He felt slightly on edge while he walked around in darkness and almost complete silence. He glanced around, trying to deduce the source of the sound. He walked up to the crater caused by his crash and looked down.

Seeing nothing, he turned around. He was about to walk away when a flash of light came from behind him. He spun around and saw something glowing in it. Sonic slid down and started approaching it. He couldn't quite tell what it was at first, but it became more apparent as he got closer.

Whatever it was, it was small and appeared humanoid in shape. It was a green and softly glowing silhouette of a person. It wavered and flickered, making him think of something with a bad signal. It was lying on the ground making it harder to tell anything.

"Hello?" He asked, leaning down.

The figure began moving and sat up. It moved its head, looking around. When it saw Sonic, it jumped up and fled behind a rock in a panic. He sighed and walked up to the rock.

"It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you," He said calmly as it slowly stepped out in front of him.

He could finally get a better look at it. He was reminded by a doll, because of its doll-like joints. In the center, where he guessed was either its chest or back was a piece of a green gem. It didn't have any hair, a face, or any descript features for that matter. It looked up at him and although there was no way to tell, he knew it was uneasy. He needed to find some way to make the situation less tense.

"Hi, I'm Sonic," He said.

There was a long silence as it just continued staring up at him. It cocked its head to the side and flopped to the ground. Sonic wasn't entirely sure if it could understand him, but it seemed to have calmed down.

"What's your name?" He asked.

It tilted its head down in thought. It threw its hand to its head. The figure appeared like it was starting to panic.

"Can't… can't… can't…" It kept repeating like a broken record.

"Can't what?" He asked.

"Can't… remember…" It stated.

"You can't remember your name?" Sonic asked, starting to feel bad.

"Anything… can't… remember… anything…" It said, continuing to repeat.

Sonic patted it on the head and smiled. It jumped and seemed to calm down for a moment. It looked back up at him, silently watching him.

"Don't worry! I'll help you out. Maybe there's someone around here who knows you," He said reassuringly.

Though he couldn't be completely sure how it was feeling, Sonic felt as though it was happy with what he said. It stood up and climbed up his arm to his back and nestled itself in his spines.

He gazed up as the sun crept over the crater side. As its light washed over him, he could feel himself changing. Within an instant he felt himself shrinking back down to his normal size. Was he really back to how he was supposed to be? Only one way to find out. In a boost of speed, he quickly ran straight out of the crater.

"Yes!" He exclaimed.

Sonic was still in business! He rushed back to the barn where a yawning Steven was exiting. He looked at Sonic and blinked as it took him a moment to realize what happened. When he did register that the hedgehog was back to normal, his eyes widened.

"Whoa! You're not huge anymore!" He gasped, "Are you a werewolf? No, that's not right… A wereHOG?"

Sonic nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't sure why he was like that last night honestly. No matter the reason, he needed to get somewhere like Tails' workshop or Angel Island fast. A place where someone might be able to help. And he didn't want to impose on these practical strangers any more than he had.

"Thanks for letting me stay, Steven, but I gotta go," He said.

Steven was a bit disappointed to say the least, but he was determined not to show it as he said, "Okay… Bye, Sonic!"

Sonic waved goodbye to him before running off. Steven sighed, a little sad to see him go so soon. It would've been nice to have him over longer, but Sonic probably had stuff to do. Collect Chaos Emeralds, beat up robots, and stop Dr. Eggman… the usual.

Peridot walked over to him as he sighed. She raised an eyebrow.

"What? Is he gone already?" She asked.

Steven sadly nodded his head. Peridot wasn't sure why he was so upset about Sonic's departure. She simply chalked it up to his sentimentalist nature. However, that wasn't the only thing dampening his mood. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl still hadn't returned from Mask Island. He was worried about them. He looked in the direction of the nearby warp pad, hoping to see a familiar light shine from it.

"Peridot, do you wanna see if the gems are maybe at the temple?" He asked.

"Uhhh… but wouldn't they come back here?" Peridot replied.

"I know, but I just want to check real quickly," He said.

"Sure, I guess," She said.

Steven got her to hang on a moment as he wrote a short letter to the gems and stuck it on the outside of the barn telling them where they were. Just in case they arrived at the barn and Steven and Peridot weren't there. The duo ran to the warp pad for the fastest travel back. They stepped on it and in an instant were enveloped in light.

As they appeared in the temple, Steven hopped off and looked around. He was disappointed not to see any of the gems. Peridot, on the other hand, felt a tad smug.

"See? I told you they wouldn't be-"

A sudden explosion rocked the temple. Steven and Peridot were both taken by complete surprise. They rushed to the front, where Steven flung the door open. He gasped and quickly ducked behind it.

Out on the other side of the beach was a battalion of robots being personally overseen by Eggman. He quickly peered around the corner. The robots were scouring the beach, looking for something. He gulped as they began moving towards the temple. This was not good.

"Oh boy," Steven whispered.

"What is it?" Peridot asked, not having seen it.

"Remember that Dr. Eggman, Sonic was talking about?" Steven said while nervously chuckling.

"Yeah. Why're you- Oh," She said in realization.

"His robots are heading right here," Steven said, clearly thinking about what to do.

"Why don't we just go back to the barn?" Peridot asked.

"No! We can't let them into the temple! Plus, what if they attack Beach City? We have to do something," Steven said.

"Like what? It's just the two of us. I can't fight without my limb enhancers and you only have a shield! If the others were here we might be able to do something," She told him.

"The laser light cannon!" Steven exclaimed as he ran to the temple door.

"The laser-what-now?" Peridot asked, perplexed.

"It's what we used to destroy the red eye," He answered.

His gem began glowing and the door opened. They ran inside into Rose's room. Peridot looked around the room and then back to Steven, confused.

"It's just a bunch of clouds…" She said.

"Watch this! Room, Show us where the laser light cannon is," He said.

As soon as he finished his sentence, clouds formed together and created a small replica of Pearl's room. Peridot looked amazed as she touched it. It immediately poofed away. Steven laughed a little.

"Room, I need to get to Pearl's real room!" The clouds parted, revealing a long red tube, "Come on, let's go!"

Steven and Peridot ran over to the tube. Steven jumped onto it and started pulling himself up it. Peridot followed in suit, sliding down at first, but she soon got the hang of it.

It took a few minutes, but they finally arrived in Pearl's room. Steven was the first to swim up one of the pillars of water. When he reemerged, he took in a deep gasp of air, then waited for Peridot as she came up. He rubbed his chin in deep thought. Now, that he was here, he wasn't quite sure how to get the cannon. Well, actually he remembered seeing Pearl with her stuff before and decided to try emulating her.

He began attempting ballet which slowly grew more frantic as nothing occurred. He motioned at Peridot to help and the two clumsily tried dancing. After a while they realized that wasn't working. Steven started jumping around pillar to pillar, stuffing his face into the water, trying to find where she kept her things. It was no use as he found nothing.

"Where's she even keep it all?!" He exclaimed in defeat.

Ripples flew across the water as another explosion occurred. The duo were knocked into the water. Steven floated back up groaning. Peridot walked over to him. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Steven… We need to leave," She said.

"What? But… the temple! We can't just go," Steven replied, worried.

"Don't be a clod! We're outnumbered and we can't find this laser light whatever… We're completely defenseless, Steven!" Peridot told him, "We need to go back to the barn, now!"

Steven sighed, "Yeah. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are probably gonna be back any second. Then we can come back!"

"Exactly," Peridot said as she and Steven approached the door.

She tapped the door, trying to figure out how to open it. Steven patted her on the shoulder and she stepped aside. It opened causing Peridot to roll her eyes over her inability to do so.

Not daring to waste any time, they immediately rushed to the warp pad. Steven quickly made sure that Peridot had followed him onto it. Suddenly, just before he warped them, the door to the house broke down, surprising him. A robot stood in the doorway, staring directly at them.

"Target acquired," It said.

Before either could react, a rocket was sent barreling towards them. Steven was frozen as he stared at it. Peridot groaned. This was not a good time to just stand there.

"Steven, do somethi-"

She was stopped when the missile hit her square in the chest. Steven ducked from the small explosion. She looked down at him in a mix of shock and fright. Peridot silently mouthed at him to go. As he initiated the warp to the barn, she poofed. He attempted a grab at her gem, but it fell onto the pad and onto the floor. Though it was only a matter of seconds, it felt like he was watching it in slow motion as the robot picked up her gem.


	4. Chapter 4

Garnet tore the door off its hinges with a great crash and stepped inside the empty home. She was here for one reason and one reason alone: television. It was crucial she found one before she did anything further. She wandered the house for several minutes until she found it. Garnet grabbed the remote and turned it on. She flipped through the channels, every single one switching to an emergency broadcast.

"Oh dear," She said, turning around and leaving.

That was not a good sign. Steven and Peridot must have failed to stop the Cluster. She wanted to go back to the barn immediately and make sure they were okay, but she had to do other things.

She walked through the city, seeing panicked humans. The other gems would learn what happened soon and would come looking for her. Garnet wanted to leave before that. She needed to continue her plan alone. It wouldn't be that hard, she knew exactly where the warp pad was and had been leading them on a wild goose chase until she could figure out what occurred. Garnet approached the university toward the center of town.

It was a grand old building that was clearly the pride of the city. In fact, it appeared as though the rest of Spagonia was built up around. It was here where she would find what she sought after. Garnet climbed up the impressive set of stairs, casually sauntering through a crowd of frightened students. After a few minutes of having to fight against the mob, she reached the top of the first flight. There in the middle was the bottom of a large fountain.

Rather than continue going up the steps, she began wading up to the top. At the head of it was a round, silver orb with wings protruding out its sides. The statue was resting on a mildly weathered, though still functioning warp pad. Garnet cracked her knuckles and rose her fist in the air.

"Hey!" An old man she caught the attention of called as he walked over, "What are you doing in the fountain, young woman?"

Garnet froze for a moment and turned her head. The old man looked confused and motioned for her to step out. She ignored him and moved her head back.

"I'm sorry for this," She said, before continuing through with smashing it.

The statute flew off to the side and landed with a crash. People around her cringed in reaction to the loud noise, unlike Garnet who didn't seem to be affected. She stepped onto the pad and warped away.

Garnet reappeared in a place much different than Spagonia. Rather than being greeted by bustling streets and numerous people, she was surrounded by an empty wilderness. Her future vision led her here, but she wasn't sure why yet. In fact, she was certain the warp pad had been broken as it never worked before. She shrugged and stopped thinking about it. She could figure it out at a later date. Garnet stepped off and began walking.

The open fields were quiet except for the occasional scampering of small animals or the chirping of birds. Far-off mountains dotted the landscape, standing impressively. A light breeze fluttered about, sounding almost similar to a child's laugh. She passed by a small group of trees, each offering the perfect shade to hide from the bright and sunny sky. It was calm and at peace… surprisingly contrasting Garnet.

She was distressed over the current situation. Steven and Peridot failed. The Cluster hadn't completely destroyed the earth, but they failed. Her mind kept drifting back to what she saw on the TV: the earth itself had been shattered for reasons unknown.

"He could be dead and it's all our fault," She argued with herself, "No. I'm certain he's safe."

This kept up as she continued on. She felt as though she could barely stay together. She had to keep reminding herself to find out what had drawn her to this place. And so far she was finding nothing. That only made things worse as it made her grow more irritated at everything.

"We need to keep calm... I'm trying my best!" Garnet muttered.

Her whole body twitched with every step she took and occasionally a glow could be vaguely seen. It was only a matter of time until she would unfuse. At this point, any attempt to do otherwise was staving off the inevitable.

She clenched her jaw and forced herself to keep moving. Garnet didn't even know what happened yet. She had to stay calm and rational. Steven was fine. He had to be. But if he wasn't.

"You have to lis-"

Garnet immediately stopped and regained her composure. She wasn't alone. She could sense that something, most likely a corrupted gem, was nearby. She looked ahead to find a small crater which was probably hiding whatever it was. She summoned her gauntlets and cautiously approached the indented ground. Rather than a monster, inside it was a dark, greyish-green gem.

The discovery put her slightly on edge. There was still something near. Something strong that caused that monster to poof. Before she could do anything else she needed to take care of the gem. She slid down into the crater and walked up to it. Her gauntlets disappeared as she went to pick it up. A small bubble formed around it, ready to go to the temple.

"Hey!" A voice suddenly called out.

She looked up and almost instantly found herself greeted with a spiky fist to the face. Garnet dropped the bubble, which popped when it hit the ground. It rolled away to be grabbed by her assailant, a small red mobian.

"I don't know what you're trying to do with the emerald, but I'm not gonna let you get away with it," He said.

"That is no ordinary gemstone. You need to give it to me before you get hurt," Garnet said.

"No way!" He said, interpreting her words as a threat.

Garnet stepped up to him, reaching her hand out. It was slapped back and he put the emerald away. She merely shrugged, taking a step forward, and grabbed him. She didn't have time for this. She flipped the mobian upside down and started shaking him.

The gem fell out of where he'd placed it, but he immediately grabbed it again before kicking Garnet in the face. He threw several punches; however, they were all stopped simply by her hand.

As the mobian grew angrier, he threw his punches harder. Garnet stayed completely unfazed and continued blocking each blow. It was like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. It was as though they were at an impasse. Neither seemed to have the upper hand.

Garnet stopped blocking him and swiftly moved behind him. She grabbed him, holding him tightly as he struggled in her arms. He stopped slowly fighting against her and appeared to be calming down. Garnet kept holding on to him.

"You need to hand it over to me," She told the mobian.

He nodded and she set him down. He fished around for the emerald as she reached her hand out. He stretched his arm out in response seeming to have found it. Then, he grabbed Garnet and suddenly threw her over his back.

She barely had time to react before she realized she was flying. She crashed into the ground and skidded for several feet. When she sat up her glasses had fallen off her face, her expression showing how much more serious she had grown.

She gestured her hand over her face as they reappeared. She began charging back to her previous location. Garnet punched at him but her fist hit the ground as he jumped out of the way. He glided around her before he struck her in the back.

The blow slightly pushed her forwards, but she managed to hold her ground. She turned toward him, hitting him straight in the face. The mobian fell to the ground, wincing in pain. He gritted his teeth and launched himself up, delivering an uppercut to Garnet.

She immediately retaliated and grabbed him by the shoulders. Garnet threw him across the field and watched as he repeatedly hit the ground. She waited for a moment and noticed he hadn't gotten up yet so she began walking over to retrieve the gem.

She reached him and as she began to bend down, he sat up slightly and swiftly kicked her legs. She fell to the ground and he attempted a choke hold. Although it was strong, it didn't cause much of an effect seeing as she didn't need to breathe. She grasped his arm and started trying to pull him off her. He moved his free arm and attempted punching her in the face, however Garnet kept dodging his blows. He tried landing one last hit, but got a hold of his hand and used it to toss him off.

She picked him up and he quickly knocked his head against hers. Garnet's grip on him didn't loosen so he struck her in the stomach and pulled away. She let go and he used the momentum to glide a small distance away.

She rushed at him and the two began trading punches. They were both hit several times yet neither let up their assault. Garnet was surprised at his strength, but she didn't dwell much on it. She was too invested in the fight. She had to be. It was likely a setback to whatever her mission here would be, but she was a little gratefully for it. It stopped the worries nagging at the back of her mind ever so slightly.

She stared at the mobian. His tenacity was honestly staggering. He wasn't going to give up the fight. She had no idea why he was so invested in the gem. He was waging a battle over something he couldn't understand. There was no way he knew what it really was. And yet, he fought. It was puzzling.

It wasn't going to end the way it was going. Not unless, she ended it herself. Garnet knew what she had to do. She stopped punching him and slid to the side. She launched herself into the air and prepared for one final strike. She cocked her arms back, preparing to launch her rocket gauntlets, but she stopped herself, realizing that would be too much. She flipped in mid-air and prepared a devastating kick when a voice called out.

 _"_ _Garnet look, the Emerald, its reacting to the temple!" The leader of the Crystal Gems looked down to her companion, the same small red creature._

 _"_ _Let's go Knuckles, we don't have much time left to restore this plate." The duo shot forward towards the temple surrounded by an icy wilderness._

Astonished, Garnet landed to the ground with a gentle thud, kneeling. Not much surprised her but this red mobian, 'Knuckles' was full of them. Knowing her next move, Garnet calmly looked at him.

"Let's talk."


End file.
